KARACHI: Efforts are underway to automate government payments in order to ensure transparency, efficiency and public convenience, said the SBP Governor Dr. Reza Baqir on Thursday.

He held an online meeting with the business community to seek feedback on an ongoing project for automation of tax refund payments by the SBP.

Baqir introduced the SBP’s Automation of Payment of Tax Refunds Project saying that once the project is completed, the government’s revenue collections, automation of payment system would make it transparent and efficient.

He said that improving ease of doing business is one of the shared goals of the government and the SBP for its significant potential impact on boosting economic activity in the country.

Baqir said the SBP’s automation project is in collaboration with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Pakistan Customs.

He said that since the project is ultimately going to benefit businesses, it is important that the system is developed with their consultations. He said that in this regard, feedback of businesses is very important since they are the key stakeholders.

The meeting was attended by the office bearers of Pakistan Business Council, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries and commerce chambers of various cities.

A senior SBP official gave a detailed presentation on the project elaborating that the project constituted two broader components, automation of payment of duty drawback claims and sales tax refunds.

He highlighted that there will be minimal human intervention in processing and payment of refund claims as the system-generated payment messages will be sent to the SBP in real-time basis through an interface between the FBR, Pakistan Customs and SBP for crediting the funds in the claimants’ account.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2020